Insights for the Month of Leo

July 22ndSun enters Leo 11:31 PM EDT
Mercury trines SaturnWhen heat and light converge in the heart we call it love. It’s only one version of love but possibly the most compelling. So, take heart, my love. Just because you can. Leo is ruled by the Sun. The Sun is hot and it burns us. These days it is bad for our skin and water is in shorter supply. How is this love? Who is to blame? Surely not the Sun. the poet Hafiz says:

And while we’re at it – there is a lot to be gained in letting love find its own way.

July 23rdMercury enters Leo
Sun conjunct MercuryIt is our human nature to turn love and all powerful experiences into words. Despite the fact that something is always lost in translation. How many thought angels can dance on the head of your heart?

July 25thVenus Stationery Retrograde
Mars square UranusThere is a two volume novel in these transits. The goddess of love and beauty begins her descent. Her journey is our journey. Between now and August 15th we are meant to divest ourselves of the non-essentials. A challenge in a world that is desperate to convince us that non-essentials are valuable beyond measure. You could say this process calls for honesty but really it calls for presence; which may be the same thing. From August 15th – September 6th we are meant to commit ourselves to what is left. If you’re of a mind to take this on you could limit it to one area of your life. The one that calls you, of course.The world seems like such an unpredictable place at the moment. So many beings; human and otherwise, displaced from their homes on account of fire, flood and war. Where is real security to be found?

July 31stFull Moon: 07 degrees Aquarius 06:43 AM EDT
Venus retrograde enters LeoLove given and received with a bright moon showing the way. Opening our hearts to one another requires a certain willingness to entertain the stranger. We are all strangers in each other’s hearts when the moon is full. The decision is only, ‘Welcome or not.’Still retrograde, still intent on eliminating the non-essentials, Venus reminds us to look through the image to the heart of things. We dance in the flames of desire often mistaking it for true love.

August 1st
Saturn stationery directAs long as we try to solve the problems the world faces with the old mind; the corporate mind; the mind of greed we will create the same old problems. A new mind is forming in the collective, even as it seeks the older mind, the ancient, non-hierarchical mind which might hopefully inspire new ways to deal with Scorpio issues: Things like debt and trust and who owes what to whom. And then there is the problem of betrayal. Saturn is old and can be ancient. But it can also be hierarchical. It’s had enough of where it’s been and it’s moving on. Defining the problems as they exist and (in the right hands) seeking sustainable solutions. There are some mean challenges ahead. Just ask the Pope.

August 2ndMercury trine UranusEach and every one of us humans has a capacity for revelation: To have a deeper layer of truth revealed to us, often when we least expect it. The quality of our revelations depends on what we have been feeding our minds. If thoughts are like angels in that they are messengers and they have wings, what are demons?

August 3rd
Jupiter square SaturnTo understand this, reread August 1st. Then consider the last set of aspects Jupiter makes in Leo (square Saturn today, conjunct Venus tomorrow, conjunct Mercury on 7th). You could call it a last stand (Jupiter enters Virgo on August 11th). Jupiter is commonly considered to be the ‘greater benefic’ who showers those he loves with all sorts of goodness. When it makes a square, however, it can be self-righteous, and bother us with an inflated sense of entitlement; totally ignorant of how its demands effect the realities of other beings. It seems the consequences of the entitlement of some in relation to the destitution of others is on all our minds.

August 4thVenus retrograde conjunct JupiterGiven that no matter how much we eat at any given meal, hunger will inevitably return, how would it be to give away the feelings in our hearts rather than to keep trying to feed feed them? Heart-felt generosity is Leo’s finest gift and no matter what you think your chart says, everybody has a heart. Fire of love better than fire of wrath.

August 5thVenus retrograde square SaturnEnough is as good as a feast.

August 6thMercury conjunct Venus, Square Saturn
Mars trines SaturnWe are eager to support whatever we see that needs the kind of support we have to give. How you think things are depends a lot on where you’re standing. Unfortunately, one man’s warrior is another man’s terrorist, if you think with the war mind. It’s always humbling to remember that we see the world through a glass darkly. The only hope is in here and now. That’s what the wise ones have been saying for as long as they have been saying anything. Easier said than done, yet totally possible for you and me and everyone we know, right now.

August 7thMercury conjunct Jupiter
Mercury enters VirgoWe think so incessantly about all the ways we can make ourselves better. Better than what? Too much buzz. Like flies around a piece of meat. Sometimes we have enough and find we can turn toward love, the kind that could care less about good, better, best. Without even realizing it we move on, leaving the whole issue and find ourselves solving problems, fixing what’s broken, aligning with the organic rhythms of time and necessity. Tinkering with Creation.

August 8thMars enters LeoCome what may, life is an adventure and each of us a hero in our own way: Absurd, applauded or just plain bewildered. Hopefully it’s true that what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.

August 11thJupiter enters Virgo
Venus retrograde disappears from the sky until August 20th.Jupiter in Virgo promises a year of seeing the forest and the trees in the same maddening instant. If we can prioritize our problems, a lot could be fixed. What works best for Virgo is process and integration which require time. Choose your think tanks with care. Look for quality of thought.As for Venus; the retrograde continues. The next nine days are layered. Superficially it’s time to really take a good look at reevaluating something. At a deeper level we are meant to grieve our losses with all our human hearts because when we are done, it will be time to pick up what’s left and make it work.

August 12thMercury opposite NeptuneDon’t panic! No one likes a tsunami. Whatever seems overwhelming may actually be so in the moment. But we were born to these times. If you’re still left after the waters recede, make yourself part of the solution.

August 13thSun trines UranusWe are all artists and/or prophets; grabbing onto the image revealed in 3-D Technicolor. The sun breaks through a cloudy sky, slanted rays stream onto a lake or a meadow, mountain or desert; even a crowded street. Suddenly we see! Today’s revelations are meant to be appreciated but a lot must be considered before you do something on account of them.

August 14thNew Moon: 21 degrees Leo: 07:53 AM EDTCourage! Where is the edge of you map? The place they write, ‘Here there be Dragons’. Will you go there?

August 15thSun conjunct Venus
Mercury trines PlutoImagine you had nothing, you were nothing, you were nowhere. Now imagine a shower of grace descending on you. A sense that it’s all ok, even without the world or time. That’s Venus conjunct the Sun. Nothing required but pure being. A tall order for us, mere mortals. Even so, today is a day to fully come to understand that what you can do, you will do.

August 21stSun Square SaturnHaving found freedom, now comes awareness of responsibility. If it seems utterly restrictive, don’t struggle against it. You will only tighten its grip. Consider what it would take, to respond appropriately to the circumstance at hand. Rewards could be great.

August 20thVenus returns to the sky as the morning star.Having let go of what could not be kept anyway now is the time to commit yourself to action to make the best use of what remains.